Be Here
by lxm8
Summary: Meredith just lost her best friend to Switzerland and now she has to face a new relationship in her life - a long-lost half sister. Oneshot. Mostly Meredith/Maggie and MerCris friendship.


A/N: So I wasn't very happy with the way things ended with Christina leaving, especially how Meredith doesn't mention her much afterwards. Also, I didn't like how Mer reacted to Maggie. I thought it was really rude and frustrating. So this is my take on how I would've had things go. This takes places around 11x3 after Meredith first learns about Maggie. This is my first fanfiction so please leave reviews and let me know what you think!

In the E.R., there is no time to think. Trauma is chaotic. Dirty. Unexpected. There is no time to make sure that all the scrapes are cleaned and all the stitches are tied. When a body is lying on the table, perhaps seconds from failing, doctors must be efficient. They must be focused. One mistake could be the line between life and death.

A rush of air brushed up Meredith Grey's neck and tickled her ears; she immediately turned to face towards the E.R.'s entrance as a group of paramedics wheeled a man in.

"Jake Reese, 20-something male car crash victim. Multiple lacs and contusions, open fibula fracture, hypotensive and tachycardic," the paramedic announced, pushing the gurney towards the crowd of doctors that had promptly gathered.

Meredith studied the man as he was rushed to a trauma room. His face was contorted with lacerations along his eye and cheekbone, the blood soaking into the bandages which were roughly wrapped around his head. His hair was matted, pinned to his forehead by sweat. She could smell traces of car fumes lingering in the air around him. As the patient was quickly transferred to the trauma bed, he cried out. Straightaway, like a rehearsed dance, an assembly of doctors and nurses attached fluids to his arm, connected him to machines, and checked his stats and injuries.

"Where is Allison? I need to see her! Where is she? Is she okay?!" The patient thrashed against the restraints holding him down.

Meredith took his blood pressure and watched as Dr. Maggie Pierce reassured the patient.

"Jake, just stay calm, okay? We're going to take good care of you. I need you to stay still, sir," Maggie explained, staring at the open wound on his leg. White bone jutted out through his flesh and stood out against the dirty, bloody hair on his shin. She turned to one of the nurses. "Page Dr. Torres for an ortho consult. Also let's get an abdominal and head C.T...He seems pretty stable for now and-"

"Where is my sister?!" Jake interjected. "Wh-where is she, I need to know if she's okay, she was in the passenger's seat. I need to know she's okay. We didn't see the truck coming out from anywhere, we didn't see anything, it-it was raining..."

"Sir, we're going to take you away to run some tests, now," Maggie said softly.

As the nurses wheeled Jake away, Meredith relaxed. The frenzy was over. She glanced up and caught Maggie staring at her, a tentative expression on her face. Meredith opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself. She could not yet find the words to address what had happened last night in the parking lot.

"My mother was Ellis Grey," Maggie professed.

Meredith paused, wondering if she had heard her correctly.

Maggie hesitated, then continued. "I know, I'm sorry. I-this isn't fair to you, and we got off to a bad start, but I'm here to work. And if I'm gonna be here, I have to tell you the truth about who I am."

Meredith remained frozen and continued to stare at Maggie, thinking to herself, This is impossible… She had already been through this before. The last time Meredith met a distant half-sister of hers, she had died right in front of her. Meredith was not prepared to have another Lexie in her life.

"I was put up for adoption in Boston," Maggie continued. "And I was adopted by an amazing couple, and they are my parents. But my mother...my mother-I found out a year ago. My mother is your mother, Meredith. My mother is Ellis Grey."

The girl who Meredith had just considered the new attending, the new chief of cardiothoracic surgery, was now also her younger sister. Yet all Meredith could see was a stranger.

"I….are you lying?! What do you want?!" Meredith panicked and walked away to her car.

Dr. Miranda Bailey marched in, interrupting Meredith's thoughts.

"The C.T. results show that Mr. Reese has bleeding in the upper quadrant and blunt injuries to his pancreas and liver. Dr. Torres is going to repair his leg. Since he's stable for now we'll prep an O.R. and get you in there in an hour. Pierce and Grey - you're scrubbing in," she ordered. "Also, we found the sister, Allison. She's got a minor sprain on her wrist, but she's doing fine. See you at 2:00."

Meredith looked at Maggie again, who averted her gaze this time. Meredith sighed, stripped off her gloves and trauma gown, and headed for the cafeteria.

Meredith grabbed a sandwich from the lunch line and sat down next to Alex Karev at their usual lunch table. The room filled with the buzz of clattering dishes and chattering hospital staff.

"Help! My life is a mess," Meredith groaned.

"Nice to see you too," Alex quipped, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you don't get to do that. Now that Cristina's gone, you are here to be my person. So listen. This is important."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, rolling his eyes again.

"I'm serious! Pierce told me she's my half-sister! She's five years younger than me, I would've known if my mother were pregnant...right? How come no one told me? Everyone has been lying to me my whole life! And what is Maggie expecting me to do? Am I supposed to bake her cookies or something? Invite her over for sleepovers?"

"Stop with the questions! God, I dunno, Mer. Like I already told you yesterday, just do whatever!" Alex shrugged, devouring a mouthful of his pizza.

"Yeah, great advice," Meredith scoffed. "I need Cristina here." She thought back to the last time she had seen her best friend. She could still see Cristina's black curls flying around as they danced it out to "Where Does the Good Go" in the on-call room, hours before Cristina's flight to Switzerland. It had not fully registered to Meredith that the person who had saved her husband's life, the person who had survived the plane crash with her, the person who had been there for her after Lexie's death, was gone.

"I need you to not whine in my ear. I got three surgeries to plan for, and your yapping isn't helping," Alex grumbled.

"I just...can't have another sister right now. Not with Cristina gone. Not with Lexie dead," Meredith sighed.

"Alright, don't get weepy on me, Mer. You'll figure it out." Alex stuffed a cookie into his mouth. "I'm gonna do my pre-op charts." He wandered off.

Meredith huffed and rested her forehead on her hand for a moment. She propped her feet out onto Alex's empty chair and took out her phone.

"Cristina!"

"Do you have any idea what time it is here?" she answered groggily.

"Yeah, yeah, this is important. I need you to listen to me."

"I'm doing research all day tomorrow on printing hearts! Full-functioning human hearts, Meredith! So if you've got something more important to say than-"

"Okay then, let's get back to me," Meredith interrupted. "It's about Maggie. I have surgery with her in a couple hours, I don't know how to talk to her after what she told me. My whole childhood is a lie! First Lexie, now her? I can't deal with this right now!"

Cristina sighed. "Mer, I think that-"

"Tell me what to do, tell me what to do!" Meredith cut in again. "I have no idea how I'm going to handle this problem! And I-"

"Handle this?!" Cristina cut in, her voice suddenly raising. "This isn't something to handle. This is not a problem! I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this. This is huge for Maggie, this is about her. Just think how hard it must've been to tell you. This isn't about you! You have another sister, so? Suck it up! Be a sister!"

"That's what I'm saying! I don't know how to be a sister again, I barely know her!" Meredith retorted.

"Well then be her friend. Can you even do that? Goddamit, you're frustrating me. I know it's hard to think about having another sister, but just talk to her."

"I need you, right now Cristina. You're my sister, and I need you to come home," Meredith pleaded. "You're my person."

"I know. I know I am. I have to go now. I'm tired."

* * *

The inside of an O.R. was the one place where Meredith felt at home. Everything was familiar to her-the constant hum from the rhythm of the machines, the crackle of the sky blue O.R. gowns, the smell of her face mask as it lightly pulled on her ears, the smooth feeling of the gloves against her fingertips, the prospect that she was about to save a life. She stared at the various instruments on the shining metal tray - perfectly positioned, waiting to be used. She turned to one of the nurses.

"10-blade." Meredith carefully placed the scalpel against Jake's abdomen as Maggie and ten other doctors and nurses watched. She felt the soft skin sink under the metal edge as she drew a line across his stomach, leaving a red trail behind.

Once in surgery, Meredith settled into a calm. There was a certain peace that fell over the room. The hours in surgery blurred together, time passing without thought. After four hours, Meredith's feet were aching, but she was used to it.

"Welp, I'm about done with his heart. I've stopped the clotting. How's his liver?" Maggie asked Meredith from across the O.R. table.

"The hemorrhaging is under control," Meredith responded. "I'm almost ready to close. I need a clamp, I-" The heart monitor struck a high pitched beep, triggering an instant sense of alarm throughout the room.

"BP is dropping, his heart can't take the clamping!" Dr. Bailey shouted, as she frantically reached for lap pads. "Grey! You need to find that bleeder now!"

"I can't see anything! I need more retraction!" Meredith panicked.

"There's nothing more I can do for his heart! You need to stop the bleeder!" Maggie cried.  
"I CAN'T SEE IT! I can't find it!" Meredith shouted hysterically.

"Then feel for it, Grey!" demanded Bailey.

Meredith took a deep breath. "Okay I feel this..right? This is right-I feel the valve?" One wrong clip and she could ruin Jake's life. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Maggie standing next to her.

"Dr. Grey...Meredith...you can do this. Just try to feel for it. It should be about 10 centimeters off where the hepatic veins meet."

"Okay, okay." Meredith refocused. Her fingers traced along a thin vein until she felt a small opening. "Are you sure about this? You need to be sure otherwise Jake will bleed out." She looked up to meet Maggie's eyes.

"Just trust me," Maggie replied. "Can you do that?"

* * *

The patient wing was quiet now, devoid of the hectic energy of the E.R. from that morning. Only the sounds of an occasional cough or bed wheels scraping the ground interrupted the silence.

Meredith and Maggie looked on as Allison sat by her brother's bedside, black streaks of mascara trailing down her cheeks as she wept. She gripped Jake's fingers with one hand, while the other lay dressed in bandages by her side.

"Jake was always looking after me. He's the best friend I could ask for. It's not fair that he was the one hurt," she sobbed. She turned to face Jake. "I'd do anything for you. I wish you weren't in so much pain."

"Hey, it's okay Allison, it wasn't your fault. That truck-" Jake choked. "I'm just glad you're okay. It's all over now."

Meredith smiled at them both. "We'll leave you two now so you can spend some time alone. Jake, we'll keep monitoring you through the night." She and Maggie left the siblings to celebrate the success of the surgery.

As they walked down the hall, Meredith suddenly turned to face Maggie. "Listen, about last night. I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I know you didn't ask for a sister, and I know you didn't ask for it to be me, but-"  
"Hey, it's okay. I wasn't exactly expecting this to go over all that well. I know it's a lot to bring on you, but I'm not expecting you to… I just thought we could get to know each other better. Be friends. I hardly know anyone here." Maggie looked down at her hands and picked at her fingers.

"Well, you should come over for dinner tonight," Meredith proposed. "Derek's making chicken."

"I'd like that." Maggie grinned.

"Thank you. And thank you for the help in the O.R. That was incredible. I guess I'll see you tonight," Meredith said, returning her smile.

* * *

Derek peered into the living room and smiled at his wife and Maggie sitting on the couch. "Dinner's ready in about ten," he announced.

"Great. Make sure Zola's salad doesn't have cucumber in it," Meredith replied. She turned back to Maggie, who was in awe at the dozens of leather journals sprawled across the coffee table.

"Wow, I can't believe Ellis wrote all of these. These are intense," Maggie chuckled.

"I thought it would help you learn more about her. She...wasn't the warmest, but I'm still discovering a lot of new things about her through these."

"Thank you. This means a lot." Maggie sipped on her glass of wine.

Meredith cradled Bailey, who he promptly spit up on her shirt as the doorbell rang. "Oh, great," she groaned, looking at the mess on her clothes.

"Hey, hey don't worry! I'll get it," Maggie said with a laugh.

Meredith watched Maggie walk away. All she needs is a friend. I can do that, she thought. One step at a time. Meredith heard the door click open.

"Hi, I'm Cristina. You must be Maggie."


End file.
